Council bummed over Metro’s banners, bunnies

ANNE MARIE KILDAY

Published 7:00 pm, Monday, August 18, 2008

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Council bummed over Metro’s banners, bunnies

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Members of the Bellaire City Council are more than a little peeved that the Metropolitan Transit Authority drilled holes for poles to hang banners and plastered bunnies in the street — without asking permission.

It was all part of an attempt by Metro officials to promote their new “Quickline” service on the Bellaire Route No. 2 — an express bus that will speed riders to the Texas Medical Center.

Metro announced the new service last spring.

But Council members James Avioli Sr. and Pat McLaughlan complained last week that the transit agency had put posts in sidewalks along Bellaire Boulevard in order to hang banners announcing the new service.

The transit agency also put “medallions” — with bunnies — in the middle of the city’s main thoroughfare.

Avioli said the “stanchions” in the sidewalk appeared to be unsafe, because of protruding bolts. He asked city staff to look into his safety concerns.

McLaughlan called the situation “a bummer.”

“It’s hard to describe how outraged I am when Metro comes into our city, pops a pole in our sidewalk, puts a post in, with no regard for the mobility of the sidewalk,” McLaughlan said.

“Who do they think they are? Where do they get off? “

“Frankly, I don’t want any banners flying over Bellaire Boulevard. We do not need any more visual pollution,” McLaughlan said.

“I appreciate the upgraded service, we have a good relationship with Metro,” McLaughlan added.

There was simply a failure to communicate, said Metro spokeswoman Raequel Roberts.

Roberts said the agency failed to tell the city about the agency’s promotional “aesthetics.”

“Clearly, we need to talk to them a little bit more about this,” she said.

Metro officials have had “several discussions” with Bellaire officials about the technical aspects of the new bus service, Roberts said.

“Obviously, we value Bellaire and we want to have a good relationship with them,” Roberts said.

The “aesthetics” involve “three banners before each stop and three banners after each stop, and then the bunnies, or rabbits, in the street,” Roberts said.

“It’s part of the branding,” she explained. “What we are trying to accomplish is to set this bus service apart from the others.”

The Quickline service on the Bellaire No. 2 route — one of Metro’s most heavily traveled lines — will make one stop in Bellaire, at the Metro Transit Center. New, state-of-the-art buses will carry passengers from Corporate Drive in southwest Houston to the medical center.

“We are going to meet with them and try to see what kind of resolution we can come to,” Roberts said.

Mayor Cindy Siegel said that Metro had already recognized its error and had stopped work on the banners and bunnies.

“Nothing more is going to be done until we know more about it,” Siegel said.

City Attorney Alan Petrov said that Metro had drilled holes in the sidewalks without a city permit and without the city’s permission.

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Satterwhite, who was on vacation last week, already had planned to meet with Metro officials to discuss their plans to promote the new service, Siegel said.